dlo2 Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 Heading to Gladesville (Sydney) this week (Tuesday - Friday) and hoping to get a heads up from someone kindly as where the blackfish may (really) be on the chew on the ocean rocks. Don't mind which side of the harbour really. Anywhere between North Head to Pittwater? South Head to Cronulla? Thanks in anticipation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackfish angler Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 (edited) Hi mate i fish for blackfish not on the ocean rocks but in the harbour have been getting some fine blackfish there if i was you i would get some weed and try the harbour for them while they are still around . Edited December 4, 2016 by blackfish angler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koalaboi Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 Hi, There's plenty of blackfish spots on most of the headlands north of the harbour. Don't know the other side. All you need is a rock platform with cabbage/weed growth on it and you'll find blackfish. Watch how the waves wash over the weedy places at high tide. See where the runoff channels back to the sea and there's where the black fish are. Blackfish will come up into rock pools as well as forage over rock that is dry at low tide when there is a high tide giving them access. As always, wear non slip shoes/cleats etc and be really careful when rock fishing. When the seas get really big, they will look for the very sheltered corners of beaches (if a southerly swell the southern corners of beaches protected by big headlands and vice versa in a northerly swell eg either side of Long Reef), tidal swimming pools and little coves that are usually surf free. You can often get plenty from spots like this in safety (again be careful...an solid easterly swell can get in just about everywhere). KB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luderick -angler Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 KB is on the money, plenty around the stones at the moment just pick your spot wisely. Check tide heights etc as a lot of spots become inundated with water on bigger tides and hard to fish. This is when your looking for those exposed reefs that become covered and chase them in the shallows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest123456789 Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 Get a navionics subscription so you can see the depth contours along the coastline. Also look at google earth. Then it's just a matter of finding deep water in close. My favourite spot drops to 30 metres only 5 metres from the shore. Many spots are accessible only for anglers who are prepared to semi abseil down some steep cliffs. Yes you only need shallow water and weed for rock blackfish but there are times they like to lurk in the deep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macman Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 40 minutes ago, flatheadluke said: Get a navionics subscription so you can see the depth contours along the coastline. Also look at google earth. Then it's just a matter of finding deep water in close. My favourite spot drops to 30 metres only 5 metres from the shore. Many spots are accessible only for anglers who are prepared to semi abseil down some steep cliffs. Yes you only need shallow water and weed for rock blackfish but there are times they like to lurk in the deep. Rock blackfish or blackfish from the rocks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlo2 Posted December 5, 2016 Author Share Posted December 5, 2016 luderick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burger Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 3 hours ago, macman said: Rock blackfish or blackfish from the rocks? cheeky bugger! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest123456789 Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 13 hours ago, dlo2 said: Heading to Gladesville (Sydney) this week (Tuesday - Friday) and hoping to get a heads up from someone kindly as where the blackfish may (really) be on the chew on the ocean rocks. Don't mind which side of the harbour really. Anywhere between North Head to Pittwater? South Head to Cronulla? Thanks in anticipation. The water shaded blue is less than 15 metres deep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlo2 Posted December 5, 2016 Author Share Posted December 5, 2016 Perhaps someone could message me with some places .... it seems difficult to get specific "spots" reco's. I don't semi absail down cliffs but I have fished for the blighters for many years and have all the right gear including safety vest and cleats. Just don't know the good spots except the Doughboys area, which has not produced due to dead calm or monstrous conditions for me the last few times I've been in Sydney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike89 Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 (edited) I know there are some good ocean ledges from Manly up to the Northern Beaches but as BA has mentioned there are also plenty of easy-to-get-to places in the Harbour where some big boys hang around. If you're interested in Harbour spots around Gladesville shoot me a PM. Edit: Luke! Awesome tool, cheers for sharing! Edited December 5, 2016 by Mike89 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koalaboi Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 (edited) Some spots. Starting at Manly, go to the car park at Fairy Bower. You can climb down to the rocks at the southern end of the car park where a gully goes down to the platform. There is an obvious spot where there is a flat rock. Throw in and let your float drift across the ledge from right to left and out. The blokes there used to move along to their left as their float drifted and at the end of your drift, walk back to the start and throw out again. As you had south towards Bluefish Point there's a number of spots: the bogey hole and a couple of good gutters. I once saw two fellers with 70 fish there years ago. Honestly, most of the headlands have good spots which are accessible: Long Reef has plenty, Harbord, Mona Vale, North and south Whale Beach... The picture shows Fairy Bower access with the red x and the platform to fish from with a red line. Edited December 5, 2016 by Koalaboi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luderick -angler Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 Hey KB the old Congo line etiquette has gone out the door mate! Some new comers have no idea! And it annoys me particularly when they barge in and you have been there for an hour and got the fish going! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burger Posted December 6, 2016 Share Posted December 6, 2016 Used to fish Fairy Bower 30 years ago . . . . was a nice spot with a great drift! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koalaboi Posted December 6, 2016 Share Posted December 6, 2016 6 hours ago, luderick -angler said: Hey KB the old Congo line etiquette has gone out the door mate! Some new comers have no idea! And it annoys me particularly when they barge in and you have been there for an hour and got the fish going! That's a shame, I learned to fish for luderick there in1972 and the fishermen then were generally pretty considerate towards one another with the rotation of places in the line up. I ended up fishing other headlands with no crowds for many years, from Long Reef north. Now living on the Central Coast at The Entrance, fishing with others can sometimes be pretty cut throat. I have, on a number of occasions, seen fellow fishermen loudly abusive towards others, come to blows, threaten violence, damage cars, police involvement etc over fishing near each other. For heaven's sake. One feller is particularly bad and has been mentioned on Fishraider before. Most of us just ignore it but at times it's just better to walk away and fish when the crowd thins. Most of us go fishing to get out, maybe score a feed, relax and talk rubbish with the other fishers there. When it gets intense like this I sometimes wonder why they fish. KB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike89 Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 On 06/12/2016 at 9:10 AM, Koalaboi said: Some spots. Starting at Manly, go to the car park at Fairy Bower. You can climb down to the rocks at the southern end of the car park where a gully goes down to the platform. There is an obvious spot where there is a flat rock. Throw in and let your float drift across the ledge from right to left and out. The blokes there used to move along to their left as their float drifted and at the end of your drift, walk back to the start and throw out again. As you had south towards Bluefish Point there's a number of spots: the bogey hole and a couple of good gutters. I once saw two fellers with 70 fish there years ago. Honestly, most of the headlands have good spots which are accessible: Long Reef has plenty, Harbord, Mona Vale, North and south Whale Beach... The picture shows Fairy Bower access with the red x and the platform to fish from with a red line. Thank you for posting up this information! For this Manly spot what conditions would I be looking for to fish there and what conditions might be dangerous? Any tide I should fish? Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koalaboi Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 Hi, I always found that a rising tide was best for fishing for blackfish off the rocks. You need non slip footwear. Swell size and direction. From memory it's better in a southerly sell and wind though not too big. Spend time watching for a while and be aware that changing tides affect safety. It's also good for a range of other fish including pigs, the little hole to the right of the blackfishing platform holds, or used to, some good pigs. Also caught tailor and bream there on sunrise and sunset. Honestly though, you're well advised to explore the platforms along the coast to find ones that suit you. I preferred Long Reef as a spot as there is just about always somewhere there you can fish no matter the tide, wind and swell size and direction. Caught snapper to 5kg and tailor to 4kg off the front as well as pigs and luderick. As the tide comes in over the platform (1.8m + high tides) the fish move into the shallow water and can be a lot of fun. There's holes and channels on the platform you can fish as the tide comes in, moving back out to the high rock at the eastern end of the platform. Then as the tide drops, follow it back out using the gut of the luderick you've cleaned to fish for bream...you can also try using cabbage on a small hook with no float or lead: just cast into the channels carrying water back to the sea and let your line out. A little spin stick and threadline work well for this...maybe a 00 split shot about 30cm above the hook. Pussyfooting: it's really productive and heaps of fun. Fishing the shallow reefs is a bit safer than the deep water straight off the ocean rocks: at long Reef the bigger swells break well out to sea before they get to where you are fishing: just the same,, some swells can be too big for the whole platform. Good luck: exploring new spots and working them out is the best part of fishing. KB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike89 Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 Cheers KB, some excellent info you have shared there. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimT Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 (edited) I have often gone back to a spot the same evening/night I've seen a lot of luderick caught and cleaned. Usually comes good with bream and snapper Jim... Edited December 7, 2016 by jot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlo2 Posted December 15, 2016 Author Share Posted December 15, 2016 (edited) Thanks to Luderick Angler and Mike for their help. Caught15 fish for the time I was in Sydney. Met with my parents in Gerringong on Monday morning .... fished a ledge nearby and found a huge school of luderick sitting in clear, shallow water. One fish went 45 cms and over 3lb. As soon as I started catching the buggers, they pissed off to who knows where. Cheers guys, have a good Christmas. I'm off touring for a few weeks. Will be back in January. Forgot to thank the other people who offered assistance above. Sorry about that .... Edited December 18, 2016 by dlo2 required more info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luderick -angler Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Very nice mate. Give me a yell when your back maybe we can get you out with a couple of the boys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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